Shuttered LC Adapter

ABSTRACT

A shuttered adapter is described that includes a shuttered housing, a shutter sub-assembly frame contained within the housing, a pair of shutter doors hingedly secured to the shutter sub-assembly frame, and a door spring configured to push the shutter doors outward from the shutter sub-assembly frame and away from each other. The shuttered housing can have a separable sleeve retention insert which allows a ledge to be molded inside the shuttered housing. The ledge can be configured to abut the front lower surface of the shuttered doors when the doors are pushed outward from the shutter sub-assembly frame.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/350,291, filed Nov. 14, 2016, which will issue as U.S. Pat. No.9,709,754 on Jul. 18, 2017; which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/828,392, filed Mar. 14, 2013, which issued asU.S. Pat. No. 9,494,746 on Nov. 15, 2016; which is a continuation inpart of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/293,591, filed on Nov. 10,2011, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,196,997 on Nov. 24, 2015, which isincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to fiber optic connections andmore specifically to a shuttered LC fiber optic adapter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Optical adapters can provide connections between optical connectors.However, the cavities within the connectors are susceptible to dust anddebris. In addition, light emitted from an uncovered connector candamage the eyes of a worker or technician who is installing or repairinga fiber optic system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This application describes a shuttered LC adapter that includes ashuttered housing, a shutter sub-assembly frame contained within thehousing, a pair of shutter doors hingedly secured to the shuttersub-assembly frame, and a door spring configured to push the shutterdoors outward from the shutter sub-assembly frame and away from eachother.

In some embodiments, the shutter sub-assembly frame is retained withinthe shuttered housing by sliding into a slot located in the rear of theshuttered housing.

In some embodiments, the shutter doors are hingedly secured to theshutter sub-assembly frame via c-clamps on the shutter doors engaging apost on the shutter sub-assembly frame or via a post and hole assemblyon the shutter doors and retention bumps on the shutter door andshutter-sub-assembly frame.

In some embodiments, the door spring is a formed wire torsion spring andcan include a spring body and a pair of spring arms. The door spring canbe attached to the shutter sub-assembly frame via retention bumps.

In some embodiments, the door spring can be a flat formed spring.

In some embodiments, the shutter doors include ferrule relief pockets.

In some embodiments, the standard housing and the shuttered housing haveretention bores that are aligned with each other. Alignment sleeves canbe retained within the retention bores.

The present invention also describes a shuttered LC adapter thatincludes a housing and a spring-like shutter attached to the front ofthe center wall of the housing. The shutter has a pair of door flapsextending into the ports of the adapter at a rearward angle.

In some embodiments, the shutter can be composed of a spring-like metalsuch as spring steel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a shuttered LCadapter.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shuttered LC adapter ofFIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing the shutter doors of theshuttered LC adapter of FIG. 1 being attached to the shuttersub-assembly frame.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing the door spring of theshuttered LC adapter of FIG. 1 being attached to the shuttersub-assembly frame.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views showing the insertion of the doorspring, shutter doors, and shutter sub-assembly frame into the shutteredhousing.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the standard housing of the shuttered LC adapter ofFIG. 1 being secured to the shuttered housing, including showing thealignment sleeves being placed within the retention bores.

FIGS. 11-13 are top down cross-sectional views of the shuttered LCadapter of FIG. 1 showing the insertion of a duplex connector into theshuttered LC adapter.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of ashuttered LC adapter.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are perspective views showing the door spring of theshuttered LC adapter of FIG. 14 being attached to the shuttersub-assembly frame and inserted between the shutter doors.

FIGS. 17-19 are top down cross-sectional views of the shuttered LCadapter of FIG. 14 showing the insertion of a duplex connector into theshuttered LC adapter.

FIGS. 20 and 21 are perspective views showing a third embodiment of ashuttered LC adapter.

FIGS. 22-24 are top down cross-sectional views of the shuttered LCadapter of FIGS. 20 and 21 showing the insertion of a duplex connectorinto the shuttered LC adapter.

FIG. 25 is an exploded perspective view of a fourth embodiment of ashuttered LC adapter.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a standard housing for the shuttered LCadapter of FIG. 25.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a sleeve retention insert for theshuttered LC adapter of FIG. 25.

FIG. 28 is a partially exploded perspective view of the shuttered LCadapter of FIG. 25, showing the sleeve retention insert being removablyconnected to the shuttered housing.

FIG. 29 is a top view of the shuttered LC adapter of FIG. 25.

FIG. 30 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 30-30 of FIG. 29.

FIG. 31 is an enlarged view of detail 31 of FIG. 30.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-13 show a first embodiment of a shuttered LC adapter 100. Asbest shown in FIG. 2, the adapter includes a standard housing 110, ashuttered housing 120, alignment sleeves 130, shutter doors 150, 151, ashutter sub-assembly frame 160, and a door spring 170.

As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shutters doors 150, 151 can benested together and attached to a frame post 161 on the shuttersub-assembly frame 160 via c-clamps 152 located on the shutter doors150, 151. The c-clamps 152 can be arranged such that when the shutterdoors 150, 151 are nested together the c-clamp 152 of the first door 150sits directly above the c-clamp 152 of the second door 151.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the door spring 170 has a spring body 171 anda pair of spring arms 172. The spring body 170 attaches to the rear ofthe shutter sub-assembly frame 160 via a pair of retention bumps 162located on the shutter sub-assembly frame 160 (see FIGS. 3 and 4 for thebest views of the retention bumps 162). The spring arms 172 areconfigured to be inserted in between the shutter doors 150, 151 andprovide a force that pushes the shutter doors 150, 151 outward from theshutter sub-assembly frame 160 and away from one another.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the shutter sub-assembly frame 160, theshutter doors 150, 151, and the door spring 170 are inserted into a slot121 located in the rear of the shuttered housing 120.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the alignment sleeves 130 being inserted into theretention bores 123 of the shuttered housing 120 and then show thestandard housing 110 being attached to the shuttered housing 120. Theretention bores 123 of the shuttered housing 120 are configured to alignwith retention bores 113 of the standard housing 110 when the standardhousing 110 is attached to the shuttered housing 120 (see FIG. 2 for thebest view of the retention bores 113 of the standard housing 110). Thealignment sleeves 130 are retained within the retention bores 113, 123of both the shuttered housing 120 and the standard housing 110. In theembodiments of FIGS. 1-13, the standard housing 110 attaches to theshuttered housing 120 via complimentary snap features 114, 124, however,the present invention is not limited to these features as other meansknown in the art may be used to secure two housing parts together.

As shown in FIGS. 11-13, when a fiber optic connector 180 is insertedinto the shuttered housing 120, the shutter doors 150, 151 are pushedinward and towards each other until they reside with an opening 165 (seeFIG. 3 for the best view of the opening 165) in the shutter sub-assemblyframe 160. The shutter doors 150, 151 are preferably configured to be ata rearward angle (even when a fiber optic plug has not been insertedinto the shuttered housing) such as to allow the housing 181 of the LCconnector 180 to make contact with the shutter doors 150, 151 and pushthem inward and towards each other before the ferrule 182 of theconnector 180 can make contact with the shutter doors 150, 151 in orderto prevent the shutter doors 150, 151 from damaging the ferrule 182 whenthe connector 180 is inserted into the shuttered housing 120 (this isbest shown in FIG. 12). In one embodiment, ferrule relief pockets 156can be cut into the front of the shutter doors 150, 151 in order to aidin preventing the ferrule 182 from making contact with the shutter doors150, 151 (see also FIGS. 3 and 4 for views of the ferrule relief pockets156).

FIGS. 14-19 show a second embodiment of a shuttered LC adapter 200. Thisembodiment is similar to the first embodiment, except it shows adifferent door spring 270 (specifically, a flat formed spring as opposedto the formed wire torsion spring of the first embodiment), and theshutter doors 250, 251 are attached to the shutter sub-assembly frame260 by a post and hole assembly 257, 258 on the shutter doors andretention bumps 259 on one of the shutter doors 250 and on the shuttersub-assembly frame 260 (the retention bump on the shutter sub-assemblyframe is not shown).

FIGS. 20-24 show a third embodiment of a shuttered LC adapter 300. Thisembodiment utilizes a shutter 390 formed from a thin piece ofspring-like material such as a resilient metal like spring steelattached onto the front of the center wall 395 of an adapter housing305. The adapter housing 305 has two LC port openings 399 with a centerwall 395 separating them. The shutter 390 has first and second doorflaps 391, 392 that extend into the housing at a rearward angle relativeto the faces of the LC port openings 399. In one embodiment, the shutter390 can be “staked” into position using an ultrasonic welder to melt andcompress a feature 393 on the center wall 395 of the adapter housing305.

As shown in FIGS. 22-24, when a connector 180 is inserted into theadapter 300, the first and second door flaps 391, 392 deflect into arecess 397 within the center wall 395 of the adapter 300, allowingmechanical integrity to be maintained by having the connector 180contact the center wall 395 of the adapter above and below the recesseddoor flap 391, 392. Alternatively, the shutter 390 could be used as aside wall when deflected inward to stabilize the connector. As in theother embodiments, the shutter door flaps 391, 392 are at a rearwardangle such that the body 181 of the inserted connector 180 makes contactwith the door flap 391, 392, causing it to fold in the center wall 395before the ferrule 182 of the connector 180 can make contact with thedoor flap 391,392. One advantage of having a shutter 390 formed of ametal as compared to plastic is that metal can withstand higher amountsof laser power than plastic.

FIGS. 25-31 show a fourth embodiment of a shuttered LC adapter 400. Theshuttered LC adapter 400 is similar to the shuttered LC adapter 100, asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 1-13. That is, the shuttered LCadapter 400 includes a standard housing 410, a shuttered housing 420,alignment sleeves 430, shutter doors 450, 451, a shutter sub-assemblyframe 460, and a door spring 470, which are similar to the standardhousing 110, the shuttered housing 120, the alignment sleeves 130, theshutter doors 150, 151, the shutter sub-assembly frame 160, and the doorspring 170, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-13. However,unlike the shuttered LC adapter 100, the shuttered LC adapter 400includes a sleeve retention insert 490, as well as alignment features,such as alignment bosses 495.

As shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the standard housing 410 and the sleeveretention insert 490 include retention bores 413 and 493, respectively,which are similar to retention bores 113 and 123, respectively, asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. Additionally, thestandard housing 410 and the sleeve retention insert 490 includealignment features, such as alignment pockets 415 and alignment bosses495, respectively, for proper alignment of the retention bores 413, 493.

As shown in FIGS. 26-28, the standard housing 410, the shuttered housing420, and the sleeve retention insert 490 include complimentary keyfeatures 417, 427, and 497, respectively, for proper alignment of thestandard housing 410, the shuttered housing 420, and the sleeveretention insert 490.

As shown in FIGS. 29-31, the sleeve retention insert 490 is separablefrom the shuttered housing 420, which allows a ledge 429 to be formed inthe shuttered housing 420. The ledge 429 can abut the front surface ofthe shuttered doors 450, 451, along the bottom edge of shuttered doors450, 451, further preventing dust and other contaminants from enteringthe shuttered LC adapter 400.

While all of the above embodiments show duplex adapters, the presentinvention is not limited to duplex adapters and could be used inadapters with one, three, or even more ports. In addition, in all threeof the above mentioned embodiments, the shutters or shutter doors foreach side of the duplex adapters work independently, which allowssimplex usage of the duplex adapter while maintaining full light anddust protection. These embodiments also allow the connector latchgeometry to be located on the housing which can reduce tolerance stackup. This embodiment also allows the adapter to be converted to anon-shuttered adapter by merely removing the shutter doors on theshutter sub-assembly frame or by replacing the shutter assembly framewith a component that has a solid wall or just does not have doors. Thiscan reduce the cost of manufacturing by allowing the same housing to beused for both shuttered and non-shuttered adapters.

In some embodiments the shutter doors could be impregnated or coatedwith a substance that can convert invisible transmission light intovisible light.

While particular embodiments and applications of the present inventionhave been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the precise construction and compositionsdisclosed herein and that various modifications, changes, and variationsmay be apparent from the foregoing without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as described.

1. A fiber optic adapter comprising: a standard housing; a shutteredhousing configured to engage the standard housing wherein the shutteredhousing has an opening from a front face of the shuttered housing to arear face wherein the front face of the shuttered housing is defined asa face configured to engage a fiber optic connector; a shuttersub-assembly configured to engage a slot in the rear of shutteredhousing, the shutter sub-assembly having a shutter sub-assembly frame,shutter doors, and a spring wherein the shutter assembly frame isconfigured to form a portion of a wall separating the opening of theshuttered housing into two portions, each portion configured to accept afiber optic connector; and a sleeve retention insert configured toengage a rear of the shuttered housing and be retained between theshuttered housing and the standard housing.
 2. The fiber optic adapterof claim 1 further comprising at least one ledge formed in the shutteredhousing configured to abut the front surface of at least one of theshutter doors.